Trade : Compressed process to confirm second term for Azevedo (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The "compressed" process adopted by the WTO General Council Chair, Ambassador Harald Neple of Norway, for selecting the incumbent director-general Roberto Azevedo for a second term of four years is causing sharp concern to several developing and least-developed countries, several trade envoys told SUNS.

Trade : US blocks panel request by India over renewable energy (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
A request by India for the establishment of a dispute panel to examine some eleven measures adopted by various states and municipalities in the United States relating to the renewable energy sector was blocked by the US at a meeting of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on Monday.

United Nations : Palestinian rejection underscores limits of UN chief's powers (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Pointing out an example of the hierarchy of political power at the United Nations, a former Nigerian ambassador once told a group of reporters of an encounter at an international gathering in Africa when he ran into one of his friends who had returned from a visit to New York.